Turtle Beach Audio Advantage SRM Review

Introduction:

If you had an advantage over everyone else, would you use it? Whether it’s competing for the job you desire, getting the first PS3, or exposing your competitors’ weaknesses to win the big game - we all look for an advantage to achieve our desired results. The advantage I will be looking at today is the advantage of portability. What advantages does portability offer? The ability to go anywhere and have all the conveniences of home, or to have that one thing that might allow me to pwnd my opponents at a LAN party. We all take portability for granted. Most don’t even realize that portability is part of everyday life, yet every time you answer your cell phone, you are utilizing portability. It seems that lately with the many changes in my life, I’m looking more and more towards being able to take it everywhere I go. So I have my laptop, my cell phone and my external hard drive enclosure, so that I can watch those movies while I travel. So why not enjoy those movies or MP3’s, by listening to them as they were supposed to, by having a portable 7.1 Channel sound card.

Turtle Beach has developed such a product. Called the “Audio Advantage” SRM, this external 7.1 Channel USB audio interface allows you take it with you and it fits in the palm of your hand. The Audio Advantage connects to your laptop or desktop and includes both analog and digital inputs, stereo headphone outputs, a built in stereo microphone and support for surround sound headphones. It can be used for voice applications, PC gaming, listening to music, watching DVD movies or recording audio.

Founded over three decades ago, Turtle Beach has been on the forefront of music and audio technology. Along with their sister company Voyetra, they have developed a wide variety of music products, electronic synthesizers, software, sound cards, headphones and network audio devices to name but a few.

Will the “Audio Advantage” SRM pack a punch? Let’s take a look and find out.

Closer Look:

I have always been big on packaging, but this time I can’t comment since the “Audio Advantage” SRM has not been released yet. It was sent in what I like to call a “white box” or a non marked package. What did the box have in it? Stuff. For me to play with of course!

When I took the Unit out of its bubble-wrapped package, I was a little baffled. It looked like a pager. On further examination I realized that the object was much more. The actual sound card is palm size and it came with a manual that included a driver CD.

Just holding it in your hand and looking straight down on it, the SRM looks like a shiny box. However, as you turn it, you will begin to see that the little black box has ports for input as well as output. The top of the unit has two outputs and one input. Stereo headphones/ channel 7 - 8 and 5.1 channel headphones outputs, from left to right. Then a stereo microphone input.

The bottom of the SRM includes one S/PDIF optical input/stereo analog line input, a USB connection socket and an S/PDIF optical output/stereo analog line output (front channels).